A hobby for the greater good

August 13, 2013

By day, Cristian is a channel order management representative in Adobe’s Dublin, Ireland office. But when he leaves the office, he immerses himself in ancient India, China, and Greece.

Cristian V. has been a history buff since childhood. A few years ago, he started to write about the things that interested him most — ancient philosophy, religion, and mythology — and discovered that he loved writing about history as much as reading about it.

“What triggered my interest was to be able to understand how sometimes our present circumstances can be better understood if we know about the past,” Cristian says. “And if we understand what we did before and what happened in the past, that might help us make better decisions today.”

In September 2012, he began volunteering his time to write and edit for the Ancient History Encyclopedia, a nonprofit educational website that aims to provide high-quality information and research to the world for free. He spends 10 to 15 hours each week writing his own material and editing contributions from other authors. He is paid for his time in his favorite currency — history books. His work gives him a way to follow his passion and also help others who have a similar passion.

“The fact that what we do will help someone somewhere with their studies and satisfy their questions gives me a lot of satisfaction,” Cristian says. “Having a positive impact on education and helping students worldwide achieve their educational goals is something I find extremely satisfying. That drives me to contribute.”